"Lovely," Kari Snyder groaned as she rode shotgun with Officer David Bednar on patrol in Southeast Baltimore. A call had just come over the radio for two men selling drugs on a corner that just happened to be at the end of the 29-year-old's street in Highlandtown.
Just then, Bednar swung his cruiser across one lane of traffic near Patterson Park and slammed on the brakes. Earlier, at roll call, where Snyder and about 20 other residents met with officers before hitting the streets as part of a citywide ride-along with police, a sergeant had instructed officers to be on the lookout for a man wanted for questioning in an arson.
Bednar said he knew of the man - he often walked around the neighborhood bare-chested with a shirt wrapped around his head - and had a hunch where he could be found. Sure enough, within minutes, there was the man, with a shirt wrapped around his head, just where Bednar thought he might be.
"That's my boy," Bednar told Snyder. "Stay in the car if he tries to run."
This was one scene out of many Friday evening on the streets of Baltimore, as city police held one of the biggest community gatherings in years. Not only did police open up virtually every office in the downtown headquarters building on Fayette Street, they invited residents to ride with officers in every district in every corner of the city.
More than 170 people accepted the invitation - young, old, community leaders, curious homeowners. It was more than a meet-and-greet - it was a chance for people to see how the officers work and confront the very issues they complain about day after day, week after week in phone calls and at community meetings.
In showing the public how the Police Department works, the three-hour tour of duty also exposed plenty of warts. Many officers spoke about manpower being stretched thin. One resident said the police cruiser he rode in didn't have working air conditioning and he had to hold the passenger door closed. And while filling out paperwork at the station, Bednar was asked to jump the battery of another officer's broken-down vehicle.
"We didn't stage anything," said Col. John Skinner, who organized the event, which attracted about 500 people to the citywide ride-along and open house. "We really wanted the community to see what urban policing is all about."
